Most Helpful Customer Reviews

First and foremost, don't listen to any critic's opinion, or the opinion of any disgruntled friend that might have stumbled upon the film. This is a "love it or hate it" film, with little room for middleground, and you will not know where you stand until you see it for yourself. Do not judge it without viewing it.That said, A.I. is a visually spectacular, emotionally moving, and mentally arousing tale about the quest of a little, unloved robot boy programmed to love the programmer. When David is shunned by the world he was born into, he embarks in a journey of great physical, emotional, and temporal expanse to find the only thing he was ever programmed to want. While the story itself is entirley original, in essence it is a futuristic portrayal of the fairy tale Pinocchio, complete with the mysterious blue fairy. Plot aside, the movie is expertly crafted in the hands of Spielberg and his actors. Spielberg seamlessly meshes futuristic sci-fi style with fairy tale sentimentality to create a visually rich and captivating future that deserves nothing but the most earnest praise. The actors bring this world to life brilliantly, most especially Haley Joel Osment in the role of David. The weight that this role carries is astounding, something I wouldn't entrust to some of the most skilled adult actors. Yet Haley is without a doubt one of the most talented actors to grace the scene, age be damned, and he gives the role the infinite, nearly impossible justice it deserves. Rock on Hailey, rock on.Like many viewers, I watched the last half hour through a filter of tears despite my noble efforts to restrain an emotional outburst. The last 30 minutse are so angering, heartbreaking, and beautiful, and the characters so real, that it's difficult not to feel for them.Read more ›

Let's just say that AI is not the type of film that will entertain you. Provoke you, yes. Get you to think, absolutely. But not entertain. This isn't good old American escapism, it explores our human emotions deep down to its core. At the same time, it is a beautiful movie, with striking images and an amazing vision of the future, with a tight script and outstanding acting (why nobody from this film got an Oscar nom, I don't understand). It combines Kubrick's love of the bizarre with old-school Spielberg sappiness, and somehow manages to pull it all off.The story follows the life of a robot child named David, the first robot made to love. The First Act of the film shows David introduced to his human family, and all the strange conflicts of love, jealiousy, and even repulsion that occur. These scenes are utterly chilling and creepy while being strangely sweet, and they play on our emotions just as easily as David's programmed whispers of "I love you, mommy" confuse the emotionally precarious mother. In a scene that belongs in film history, the mother finally abandons David in the woods, and he clings to the car screaming as she drives away.In the Second Act, David joins with Gigilo Joe, and a robotic teddy bear to embark an quest, sort of like a twisted sci-fi vision of the Wizard of Oz. The Third Act catapults us 2000 years into the future, when super-robots discover David in a block of ice. While this future is beautiful and fun to explore, these story sequences aren't nearly as interesting as the first third of the film, and yet there are many many interesting throw-away shots and min-stories which can hold your attention. Spielberg consistantly blurs the difference between humans and robots, and when new characters are introduced the audience is left wondering "is its real?Read more ›

This may well be the last big-budget art film we ever see, folks. Word of mouth is killing it, but Hollywood has itself to blame -- and Spielberg can take some of the blame too. We all "want to be entertained", but there was a time when this didn't mean leaving your entire brain at home. A satisfying movie was one that engaged all, or most, of your faculties, albeit pleasurably. That's all different now. The industry has spent the years since Jaws, Star Wars and Rocky, and particularly the last decade, weaning American audiences off films that don't flatter them, don't satisfy their cravings for power and sex fantasies, don't reinforce their disgust toward people less clever or fashionable, don't leave their point of view unchallenged, and don't always leave them cheerful, triumphant, "uplifted", and feeling as hip as anybody else. I just read a letter-to-the-editor saying A.I. was the worst film the letter-writer had ever seen, because it left her feeling disturbed; it ripped her heart out and left it lying there. Well, how much of the world's cinema could this woman not enjoy? Chinatown, Citizen Kane, Midnight Cowboy, Blade Runner, La Dolce Vita, The Parallax View, Black Narcissus, Papillon, Raging Bull, in fact nearly anything by Stanley Kubrick, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Orson Welles, David Lynch, Franklin J. Schaffner, Sam Fuller, Ingmar Bergman, half of Shakespeare's output. A.I. is NOT McDonald's moviemaking!! It does not deliver on cliche' payoffs, it doesn't connect all the dots for you, it requires you to put two and two together occasionally. It doesn't traffic in cheap irony, phony uplift, contrived suspense, or sugarcoated homilies delivered as profound truths. It is for those with the palate for a richer diet of subtler flavors. It is fresh.Read more ›